Soaring Society of America

SSA EAGLE FUND

Supporting Operations and Projects

“Growing the SSA” Can we afford to grow? - Chairman Ken Sorenson

The SSA’s biggest challenge is the decline in membership. And that making the SSA more supportive of clubs and commercial operators as the “boots on the ground” is the key to bringing in new members and retaining those that we have. Focusing on membership growth has identified the following priorities that need attention (not necessarily in this order):

  • CFI-Gs and pilot training – we won’t keep new members if we don’t train them efficiently.
  • Cross-country – a key to retention. Youth – probably obvious, but if we don’t bring in more young people we’re doomed.
  • Marketing – we need to get the word out, but at the local level. EAA – a perfect fit, and we can really help each other.

Progress on these growth initiatives will require the time and energy of volunteers and SSA staff. And it will also require funding. As I fantasized in my August column, wouldn’t it be great to have enough money to fund CFI-G scholarships and training camps, to develop a “packaged” cross-country training curriculum, and to provide more youth scholarships? With enough funding, or volunteer expertise, we could develop an effective and up-to-date (social media and videos) marketing package and distribute it to clubs and commercial operators. Some good news – our collaboration with the EAA is progressing. We are working out the details to allow SSA members to participate in the EAA’s Young Eagles program. This has the potential to introduce thousands of young aviation enthusiasts to soaring and to the SSA. Having the funds to promote this program to SSA members and to support the influx (hopefully) of youth members into the SSA will be important. Some “challenging” news – due to our declining membership a significant portion of your Eagle Fund contributions are now needed to support the daily operations of the SSA, even with reduced staff and expenses. So we seem to have a classic “chicken and egg” problem. Without sufficient funds, we will continue to have difficulty increasing our membership. But until we increase our membership we will continue to be short of funds. This is where your generous Eagle Fund contributions come in – you can help turn this around. Of course there are many options for directing your contributions to specific efforts other than to keep the lights on or support growth initiatives. If you have a favorite target for your gift, just let us know. To all you veteran donors, thank you so much for your continued support! If you have not donated previously, please consider making a much-appreciated donation, and thank you! No donation is too small. And certainly no donation is too large! And it’s tax deductible. Can we afford to grow? I think the real question is – can we afford to not grow? Thanks for supporting our great sport! 

Another exciting project we will be working on for the coming year comes from the Growth & Development Committee. The Committee has approved accepting the donation of sailplanes to be used at aviation events to help attract the curious to our sport. These sailplanes will be used as static displays and people will have the opportunity to actually climb into the cockpit and take to the skies (in their imagination). The project is called “Kids in Cockpits,” but the Committee hopes the opportunity to sit in a cockpit will be of interest not only to kids but adults alike. The Growth & Development Committee has already accepted the donations of two gliders, but they need your help in getting the sailplanes in “eye catching” shape.

SSA Foundation Chair John Godfrey would ask that you consider the future of soaring and the SSA through estate planning and planned giving.  Consider a pledge to remember the SSA in your estate planning or supporting youth and juniors through flight training scholarships or other programs that the SSA supports for gifts and donations.  There are a number of options and many are favorably tax leveraged.

COO Denise Layton adds:

If you have never donated to the Eagle Fund Campaign, we hope you will consider making a much-appreciated contribution this year. If you are a veteran giver, we hope you will consider it again worthy of your support. It is through your donations we are able to fund many programs. No donation is too large or too small, and all will be truly appreciated. I hope you will make your donation today to not only help sustain the day to day operations of your organization, but to help fund these initiatives.

Donors to this year’s Eagle Fund campaign may still designate the programs they wish to support with their contributions. Some of you may wish to allow your donations to be applied flexibly, as current events warrant, at the Director’s discretion. 

We’re building for our future and we’re implementing new programs along the way. In order to implement and administer programs, we need your help. Your continued support of the SSA is needed. The support received in Eagle Fund donations allow us to delay dues increases for general operations expenses.Because your donations are greatly appreciated, we want to better recognize your generosity by continuing the following gifting levels:

  • Diamond Donor - $2,000 and above
  • Gold Donor - $500 - $1,999
  • Silver Donor - $101 - $499
  • Bronze Donor - $10 - $100

Whether you are a Bronze or Diamond Donor, each of your donations are important to us, and we greatly appreciate them. You may also choose to make a donation to the Eagle Fund online here.

Thank you,
Denise Layton, Chief Operating Officer

Ken Sorenson, Chairman

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SSA EAGLE FUND